Most Kids Exiting Foster Care Are Reunited With Family

The latest statistics on children exiting foster care are encouraging — and they align with the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s longstanding belief that families belong together.

In 2016, 250,200 kids exited the U.S. foster care system. Most of these children (66%) were reunited with a family member — a group that includes parents and primary caregivers (50%), guardians (9%) and relatives (7%). Approximately one in every four kids exiting care was adopted.

The majority of children departing foster care in 2016 were young: 40% were between the ages of 0 and 5 and 64% had not yet celebrated their 11th birthday.

Nearly half (45%) of kids exiting care were white.

More Foster Care Exit Data

Explore more child welfare data — at the national and state level — in the KIDS COUNT Data Center.